Isolation
by Navi Haise
Summary: Waking up in a new world was definitely a surprise for me. So was almost dying multiple times, but those are just the cons that are outweighed by the pros of finding my way back home.
1. Foreigner

I am Mirana Leyton.

That was just about all I knew about myself when I opened my eyes, staring out into a clear blue sky. My eyelids felt heavy, and I had the familiar soreness all over my body you get from not moving for a long period of time. ' _Ugh, I feel like shit…. where am I?"_ I sat up, and looked around where I was located. I was sitting in what seemed like just a regular field of grass.

I frowned, ' _Seriously, what is this place? I remember California, and other general things but I can't even recall my own friends and family right now. Did I pass out somehow? I remember my name and birthday, but not what I did before I passed-'_

"Miss?"

I snapped out of my deep thought and looked up to see a middle aged lady with brown hair and eyes. Her clothing oddly consisted of a neutral colored blouse and vest, with a long skirt that seemed from a time so….

' _...old.'_

"...yes?"

The lady smiled and asked, "Are you alright, dear? I was out here taking a stroll throughout the village and I find you here passed out. Do you need help?"

I smiled, a bit relieved, "Yes, actually, would you mind telling me where I am? I can't remember anything before being unconscious and I'd like some help to the police station to get some help." She frowned, "Miss, this is the remote village Tellaro, in the country of Aerugo. That's all I know dear, I've no clue of this 'police station' you're talking about."

"Aerugo? Is this some sort of small, unheard of country like Kyrgystan? I've never heard of it." ' _I've never even heard of it from AP Human Geo in freshman year…. huh, another thing I actually remember.'_

The lady rose an eyebrow, "Are you so sure? Aerugo is a commonly known, decent sized country, just about as big as Amestris. Where do _you_ come from?"

"California, of the United States of America. You sure you aren't confused?" I questioned, slowly starting to panic in fear that I was far, _far_ away from home.

"Miss, I've never even heard of this 'America' either. I think you're gonna need some help. Let me take you back to the village and show you a map, yes?"

' _You've got to be kidding me. America is obviously there on a map, I'll just point it out to her myself and get some help.'_

"Alright, thanks. My name's Mirana, it's nice to meet you."

"My pleasure, call me Agnese."

* * *

"And here we are, Mirana."

I stupidly gaped at the rural, old fashioned village, ' _Am I the crazy one here after all?'_

I stared at everything with amazed interest, never having seen anything like this from living in an advanced, modern society. We arrived at a cottage, and Agnese let me inside her home.

"You know, I'm actually glad I have company today. I don't get many visitors these days, especially with times getting so lonely ever since my late husband passed away. It's nice helping a young girl such as yourself."

I smiled, "Well, I deeply appreciate that you're helping me out."

Agnese then pulled out a folded piece of paper from a desk in the corner of the front room, and opened it to reveal a map. "Dear, mind showing me where you're from?"

"Sure," I replied and examined the map. ' _Huh….? What is this?'_

The map was completely off from the world map I remembered. There was no America, no Russia, no Asia, no Africa, _nothing._ It was all just countries I've never heard of, Amestris, Aerugo, Creta, Drachma, and Xing, along with many other countries more east of it. I couldn't believe it. I _couldn't._

"Agnese, what's the year?"

"It's the year 1914, Mirana. Are you okay?"

It all made sense. Maybe Agnese and the whole village were brainwashed and were just crazy, but how else do I explain that I passed out in California, and wake up here when it only feels like I've been asleep for a day? When this whole village is just off, when there is such a descriptive, absurd map such as this one to prove that maybe, just maybe, I woke up in a place that's impossible to leave from? How was I supposed to get help for something as insane as this?

I hadn't realized I was shedding tears until Agnese spoke, "...you don't remember anything at all, do you?"

My heart shattered, and I sobbed uncontrollably.

I never would've thought that my life was about to get a lot more hectic from that moment on.

* * *

It had been a couple months since that day I woke up in this world, which gave me plenty of time to research about it. I only told Agnese that I didn't remember where I was from to not sound totally crazy myself, and she offered hospitality to me. I repaid the favor by doing basic chores and helping out around the village. I learned that there was an unbelievable science called Alchemy, mainly used and practised in Amestris from a history book from her personal library.

' _Just a few more months of researching until I make my way to Amestris, and then getting myself home!'_

It had already been a long day of doing the laundry, shopping at the food market, and cutting some firewood, which made me exhausted. The little cabin was simple and spacious, it had a connected kitchen and dining room, with two separate bedrooms. I was given my own room, and decided to retire for the night a bit early. Miss Agnese was currently washing the dishes and refused to let me help.

"Goodnight then, Miss Agnese."

"Sweet dreams, dear," she replied.

' _I'm glad she helped me. I probably would've been dead or lost by now without her. I'll sure miss her when I leave.'_

I smiled as I got ready for bed and went to sleep.

* * *

I found myself in a white void, with a door in front me.

"Where…. am I…?" I turned around to spot a being that was just white with no features on its body or face.

" **Welcome back, Mirana."**

"Who… are you?" I questioned.

" **Glad you asked. I am what you call the world. Or perhaps the universe, or perhaps God, or perhaps Truth, or perhaps all, or perhaps one…. and I am also** _ **you."**_

I rose an eyebrow, "Yeah, and I'm royalty."

" **Funny, that you would say that. I'm here to give you fair warning, there'll come a time where you'll have to make an unavoidable choice. You want to know** _ **why**_ **you're in another world?"**

"Why?" I asked, anger filling up my chest.

Truth grinned, " **Because a spoiled story is no fun without an unpredictable variable added to the mix. I got bored."**

"Are you…. _fucking kidding me?!_ You don't have the right to do that, it's _my_ life you're toying with, you can't just mess around with people like that!"

Truth chuckled, " **Well, I just did. If you follow the rules of the game, you'll be rewarded. If not, don't worry, nothing will happen except that you get** _ **nothing~"**_

I scowled, "What do you mean, 'nothing'? What's the reward?"

" **Your memories. I'm actually being quite merciful here. I'm offering you something without equivalent exchange on your behalf. When you first arrived, I took your personal memories as a toll."**

"When I first arrived? What-"

" **It's about time that you wake up, now. Just know that when you find the answer to your true desire, you'll get your memories back."**

"Wait-!"

" **Good luck, Mirana Leyton!"** Truth grinned even wider as my vision was enveloped in darkness.

* * *

The sound of screaming was heard before I had fully realized I was awake.

' _What… what is happening?'_

I sprung out of bed and ran into the front room, only to see Agnese barricading the door.

"Agnese? What's going on?!"

She turned to me with a look of terror across her face, "Stay quiet, and hide in the back of the closet! We're being raided and trespassed by some outside group, hurry!"

Before leaving to Agnese's room where her closet was, I turned, "You better come with me soon! If you get hurt I wouldn't be able to forgive myself!" Agnese nodded, then continued to block the windows as well.

I ran into her room, and opened the door of her closet and hid behind some old hanging clothes. It was pitch black, and quiet. ' _C'mon, please hurry up Agnese.'_

That was when I heard the most terrible, gut wrenching scream, "STAY BACK!" And the sound of something falling followed after. Tears sprang to my eyes as I tried to keep my breath quiet and even.

I heard the sound of the door of Agnese's room open.

"Damn, there wasn't much from this shitty village. There was only a few decent girls this time around."

Another male's voice replied, "You think Boss is gonna be angry we didn't get much?"

"Definitely, unless we find something good to make up for it."

Steps, quick rummaging around the room outside the closet was heard.

"Dario, mind checking the closet?"

I held my breath.

The closet door opened, and I assumed he looked around, then started taking out boxes of the top shelf and floor of the closet.

"Man, nothing…. Hey, what's this?" I felt a tug of the slipper on my foot.

I tried pretending to be not there, just not be apart of my slipper I was wearing and _oh God I don't want to die yet._

The man chuckled, "I think I just found something good." I felt a hand grab my ankle, and violently pulled me out from behind the clothes, causing me to fall and be dragged out onto the floor from the closet.

I screamed, "Let me go! I don't want to die! Please don't kill me _please-"_

"Can you shut the fuck up, you annoying bitch? You're not gonna die. We'll use you to sell as a slave, then yeah maybe you'll wish you were dead by then." The man grinned.

' _No.'_

I cried.

Even while I currently had nothing binding me, I could easily run out the opened door and out the front door, but I wouldn't be able to. I was weak. I was a weak civilian who came from a country of mostly peace, had no worries about village raids and kidnappings like these. Even if I tried, everything would just get _worse._

The other man grinned, "Damn, Dario, we found ourselves a beauty who'll for sure sell for a lot," He locked eyes with mine, "What's your age, girl?"

"I-I'm sixteen." The man whistled at my response.

"A true, young beauty. She'll be worth quite the penny. Especially with those dark blue eyes of hers."

I had my wrists tied up, and they led me outside the cabin.

"Where... are you taking me?" I asked while I was dragged along through the village, or what was left of it. They had set every cabin, every single house on fire.

Dario glanced at me before speaking, "In a truck, to be sold in Xing, probably. That's the only question I'm answering. Don't ask questions, don't speak unless spoken to, and do as we say. If not, you'll face some pretty horrific punishments, girly."

He pushed my back a bit, "Now, walk faster."

* * *

It had been six days of nonstop traveling, only a few short breaks a day to eat and do other kinds of personal business. I hadn't showered since as well, and felt absolutely disgusting.

Every night since, I kept having nightmares about Agnese's dead body. When I was taken, I saw her corpse on the way out. All I saw was blood. It was my fault she died, it was my fault that she probably died for nothing, as I have gotten captured. She shouldn't have died, she didn't deserve anything so cruel.

The truck was about the size of half of a school bus, and resembled a jeep, with only two front seats and a spacious back trunk for storage. There were four other trucks besides the one I was currently in, and they all contained goods and stolen items from the village. The truck I was in, however, had three other girls about my age in the same truck. We weren't allowed to speak to each other, probably to prevent us from plotting anything to escape.

It was over an hour ago that Dario, who seemed to be the one in charge of us girls, mentioned that we had arrived in Xing.

' _There has to be some kind of way that I can escape…. if I can just sneak around when they're not looking and find something to cut these ropes, I'll be fine.'_

I knew they stopped to cook and eat for about thirty minutes to an hour every morning, which would be my chance to take something. It was already what seemed to be about nine in the morning, and they only hung around the only exit in the back of the truck. The one time they weren't there was when they'd eat by the side of the truck, instead of the back.

I just needed to sneak through that opening, cut myself free, and try to escape from there. I really didn't have much of a plan, but from listening in on their conversations, we weren't too far from a six minute drive to some civilization.

The trucks stopped in a forest, and the men got out of the vehicles to do their daily routine. They had the other girls in a different truck today, as I was the only one to be sold in Xing anyways as the rest would move on ahead to other countries. I waited for a bit before I heard the conversation and laughter of the men, while I tried looking outside the opened doors of the truck to see any sharp objects that could be useful.

I spotted a wooden, on-the-go type of table with many types of cutlery on it by the left tire of the truck, impossible for me to reach over with my bounded wrists.

' _However…'_

Looking down at my bare feet, I was struck with an idea. ' _What if….'_ I scooted myself across to the edge, my bound feet hanging over the trunk of the vehicle. I stretched my legs to the table, and slowly tried curling my feet and toes around the handle of a kunai. I listened carefully as I tried grasping it, not wanting to get caught.

The corners of my mouth curved up, ' _I have it!'_

I slowly pulled in my legs back into the trunk, and released the kunai from my feet onto the floor. I moved in a way so that my back was to the kunai, and that my hands could reach it to cut myself free.

I felt the cool metal against my right palm and fingers, and I curved my wrist up and pressed the blade into the rope. I continuously sawed the kunai through the bindings, and for what seemed like hours, my hands were finally unbound. I sat up and used the kunai to cut through the bindings of my ankles, and I was finally one step closer to freedom.

* * *

 **And I'm still alive! Writing this here to say;**

 **It's hard for me to make promises and stay committed to updating stories. When I'm writing about a fandom, I get bored eventually and move on to something else, and so on. So, I've decided to write pretty much whatever I want so it doesn't feel like a chore to me, and when I get back to a fandom I've already started a story for, I'll just update and write for that story lol. If you're curious on the progress of any incoming chapters, I have it on my bio of how completed the next chapter is.**

 **Constructive criticism is always appreciated!**

 **~Navi**


	2. Emperor's New Clothes

I carefully tiptoed my way to the opening, and peaked out from the side. _Thank God that one of them was an idiot and decided to leave it open for me._ I recalled earlier when I had pretended to be nauseous and one of the men left the back door open so that I didn't vomit inside the truck.

The men were all sitting around and eating rations, talking to one another. We were in a small forest, which was outside of a town that was nearby. As the men were chatting, distracted, I took my chance.

"Hey, she's getting away!"

 _Damnit._

* * *

My lungs burned as I rushed through the trees, as I ignored the pain of being barefoot while running through the forest. I spotted some buildings up ahead and I was so _close_. My foot caught into a root on the ground and as I fell, panic and adrenaline rose higher within me. I heard the crunching of the dead leaves and rustling of bushes increase louder behind me, urging me to stand up and keep running again. Just as I stood up, one of the men were right on my tail and I sprinted forward, ignoring the pain in my legs and feet. My right hand tightly gripped the kunai, and just as it seemed I was not even several yards away, my fear got the best of me. I tripped again, and broke my fall with my hands and knees, kunai a bit aways from where I fell on the ground.

When I went to grab the kunai, I failed to hear a man come from behind and forcibly push me onto my stomach. I flipped my body around in time to see the man above me, crouching down quickly to restrain me. I opened my mouth to scream, but he covered it in time to silence me, and I still attempted to resist.

"Shut up! Or I'll kill you, you stupid bitch!" he grunted as he had me pinned down with the rest of his body, his other hand on my neck, strangling me. My right hand struggled to force his hand choking me away, while the other was reaching for the astray kunai. My vision blurred as I felt the hilt just on my fingertips, and as I felt even more pressure on my lungs, my hand grasped the kunai's hilt.

And in a desperate attempt to live, I brought the kunai down on his shoulder.

He let out a guttural scream as he immediately got off and sat on his knees, clutching his right shoulder. The kunai was still embedded in his shoulder, blood seeping into his jacket. I sat there, stunned at what I had done just now.

The man held his gaze on me, murderous intent directed towards me. He chuckled, "Oh, you're going to _pay_ for what you've done. I don't care if I get in trouble, I'll just kill you here, right now!"

As I sat there paralyzed, too scared, too weak to even _move,_ the man pulled out another kunai from his pocket, and made the short distance over to me. _...I'm going to die. I'm sorry, Agnese… I'm sorry I couldn't even honor you by surviving myself._

As he held the kunai above me, his other hand yet again on my throat, tears had already started running down my cheeks. _I'll die and no one will remember me, and I won't even remember my family either._

 _Please, if there is some kind of God out there…._

I closed my eyes as the man brought down the kunai, _I want to live for my loved ones!_

And all of a sudden, I felt oddly lightweighted, and I felt no expected pain. The sound of the man being thrown off onto the ground reached my ears, and I opened my eyes to see a teenager with white pants, and a weird yellow jacket holding a sword to the man's throat. I gasped in shock.

"Young Lord!"

I turned around to see two figures running to us, both with odd masks.

"Hey, you there." My attention snapped back to the boy, who had already tied up the man with ropes. The boy smiled, eyes seemingly closed, _or rather… squinty?_

"Mind explaining to me why a pretty girl like you would be under attack by a guy like him?"

"I…" I stuttered, completely dumbfounded that I had just been saved, "There's more men…. I was one of the kidnapped girls to be sold in Xing. They raided and burned down our village in Aerugo."

The two figures stopped a few feet away from us, the taller one speaking, "Young Lord, why are you helping this foreigner? She is hindering us from continuing on our way to Amestris."

 _Young Lord? Is he royalty? He looks only seventeen!_ I frowned at the tall masked one's response. The teen responded, "Lan Fan, what kind of future emperor would I be if I didn't help someone in need?"

The shorter one finally spoke with a more gravelly voice, "The Young Lord's right, Lan Fan," he turned to the 'Young Lord', "Shall we dispose of the men and free the girls?"

As soon as the dark haired teen nodded, both of them disappeared.

I nervously glanced at the teen and questioned, "Who are those people that are with you?"

He kept smiling, and nonchalantly replied, "Those two were Lan Fan and Fu, my bodyguards. My name's Ling Yao."

Not really sure how to feel about the situation and just felt relieved for him saving my life, I offered, "Thanks for what you did just now….Your Highness?"

Ling rose an eyebrow, and chuckled, "You can just call me Ling."

After around ten minutes, Ling's bodyguards returned, seemingly unharmed.

"Young Lord," Lan Fan started, "We tied up the criminals and freed the girls. They aren't injured, and would be fine to get help on their own."

Their mask turned in my direction, "But what do we do about this one?"

Ling finished securely tying the burly man, and sheathed his sword. As he walked to me and held out his hand for me to take, he replied, "She looks like she could use some patching up."

"Well," I spoke with a raspy voice, "you've already helped me enough by saving my life and freeing those girls, I think I can manage-"

"Nonsense," Ling frowned, "You look pretty beat up, I insist."

I gave in and finally took his outreached hand, "...Alright."

He pulled me up to my feet, but just as he did I felt a sharp pain in my left ankle and stumbled forward, for him to hold onto my waist from falling. I looked up from his chest at Ling in embarrassment, "I think I sprained my ankle. I can't walk."

His left arm gripped my waist tighter as he brought down his right arm under my knees, bringing me up to hold me bridal style.

I internally freaked out a little, a silly fact that I didn't trust _anyone_ holding me up where they could just easily drop me, evident on my face.

Ling looked down at my face and smiled, "Don't worry, I won't drop you."

I frowned, _I hate being carried like this._

He turned to his bodyguards, "Lan Fan, Fu, let's stay for tonight at a hotel."

Fu nodded, "Yes, Young Lord."

* * *

It was a rather quiet walk through the town, and by this time it was already noon. We arrived at a pretty decent, modern looking hotel and Ling put me down and let me use him for support. Lan Fan and Fu already went ahead and got a room for us and we met at the lobby.

"We'll be keeping watch outside," Lan Fan stated shortly before the both of them disappeared, leaving Ling and I alone. He helped me to the elevator, since our room was on the second floor. I didn't really notice the lady at the front desk give me an odd look as I probably looked terrible, was barefoot, haven't showered for a week, and had quite a bit of blood soaked into my clothes. All in all, I was currently a complete, disgusting mess.

It was an awkward silence for me on my end as he let me lean on him for support as we walked to our room, then he opened the door and led us inside. The hotel room was pretty spacious, it had two rooms and even its own little living room with a couch and coffee table. Ling sat me down on the couch, and crouched down to examine my ankle.

He furrowed his eyebrows, feeling around it and asking me if certain places he touched hurt or not. "It should be fine once we ice it for the rest of the night," he looked up and held his gaze on me.

"Now then," he sat down on the corner of the coffee table, "How about we get to know each other? I'm sure you have some questions?"

I absently stared at my fidgeting hands, "Why are you helping me so much? And what kind of royalty are you?"

The corners of his lips curved up, "I'm the twelfth son of the emperor of Xing. And," he paused, "I have a feeling you'd be able to help me achieve my goal."

I did a double take after I looked up at him in surprise, "That explains it... And what do you mean I'd be able to help you? I'm just an average girl."

"As a prince of Xing…. I'm able to sense different beings. It's barely noticeable, but it feels like you're a regular human, but your presence feels _alien._ For a girl who says they're from Aerugo, you look more Amestrian or Cretian than anything. Tell me, what kind of person are you?" His eyes took a more serious look to them, something hidden underneath his rather happy appearance.

 _He knows I'm not from here. But I can't just straight up tell a stranger that even claims to be a prince everything._

"You're mostly right. To be honest, I have no memory of who I was before a few months ago. I was found and was given hospitality in Aerugo."

He held his gaze on me, calculating my response, "I don't really believe that's all you're telling me. Why don't you?"

I scowled, "In my defense, you may have saved my life but I barely know you. I'm not telling you anything else."

His smile changed to a frown, "The emperor is on his deathbed, and all of us children are competing for the throne. I'm going to Amestris to study its alchemy, and…. find the philosopher's stone, said to be used for immortality. I'm going to gain immortality to become emperor for my clan, so…." his attitude suddenly turned happy-go-lucky, and he held onto my waist.

 _...Huh?_

"So I'm not letting you go until you tell me!" I choked.

I attempted to push him away, "G-get off!" _Is he seriously a prince of Xing?_

"Wait," realization sank in, "you're going to Amestris?"

Ling nodded, "Yep!"

An idea planted in my mind, "If you take me with you to Amestris, I'll tell you everything and help you gain immortality when we get there."

He let go of me, and sat back on the table, "Really? So it's a deal?"

I smiled, hope in my future becoming brighter, "It's a deal."

"Now that that's settled…." he paused at my figure, "you should take a bath because you look terrible."

" _Ling!_ "

* * *

I left the bathroom of my room to find neatly folded clothing on the bed, probably thanks to Lan Fan and Fu. I carefully put on my clothing, trying to avoid brushing up against any cuts and bruises. When I sat at the foot of the bed, I heard a knock at the door, "May I come in?"

Recognizing the voice as Ling, I replied, "The door's open." Said door opened with Ling in view, holding a white box in his left hand. He closed the door before walking closer to where I sat on the bed, until he was within an arm's reach of me. He smiled, "Mind if I look at your wounds?" I nodded, and he soon went to work, first checking my arms. I was only wearing a tank top and shorts, which made it easier for the prince to tend to any cuts and bruises.

It was probably only around three in the afternoon at this point and I had already went through so much. I was surprised by how calm I was in this situation alone, and was just grateful that I was even rescued.

I felt a cut on my shoulder sting as Ling gently rubbed alcohol on it, eyebrows a bit furrowed in concentration at the task. I spoke to fill in the silence, "My name's Mirana. Mirana Leyton."

His dark eyes peered up at me, in what seemed in almost surprise, and intrigue. "Mirana." He tested the name on his tongue, "That's a pretty name."

"Yeah," I agreed, "I believe it means 'wonderful' and 'prosperous'."

His lips quirked up, "Wonderful, huh?"

He placed a patch over the cut on my shoulder, "Why do you want to go to Amestris?"

"I figured with all their advancements of alchemy there, I'd be able to get help finding my way back home, _wherever_ that is." I frowned, "Amnesia doesn't really help my problem, either."

Ling kneeled down to observe my sore ankle, feeling around it and asking which places hurt the most. He sighed, "Your ankle is only sprained, so it should be fine within a couple of days. You shouldn't walk on it too much until then."

"Thanks…. Where's Lan Fan and Fu? Shouldn't they be back by now?"

He held a bag of ice he brought with him against my ankle, "They're currently keeping watch outside."

Curiosity getting the better of me, I asked, "Do you ever get attacked often because you're a prince?"

"I've been almost killed many times since I was little, as much as I can handle on my own, it's nice being able to live freely without the constant threat of my life." His eyes were closed and he was smiling, bringing up a random question, "How old are you?"

"Hm? I'm sixteen."

"Ah, so you're older than me."

My eyes widened in surprise, and my jaw dropped, "I'm older than you? No way!"

He deadpanned, "I'm fifteen."

"I can't believe this," I shook my head in disbelief, "You look seventeen, you could even pass for eighteen."

Ling quickly changed the subject, "We'll be leaving to cross the desert ruins tomorrow to Amestris. Rest up while you can now." He smiled, "In your condition, I'll have to carry you the whole way~" I snorted, _He's definitely bipolar._

* * *

Ling was intrigued. He was _very_ intrigued with this girl in front of him. He admits, this girl was unusual, her chi, her presence, her attitude. It was refreshing in a way that the girl didn't try to throw herself on him once she knew that he was a prince, which interested him even more. She was unusual indeed.

 _Mirana,_ Ling unintentionally voices out her name, thinking about how well it sounded. "That's a pretty name." He notices how she slightly bites her bottom lip, cheeks flustering a little before she responds, "Yeah, I believe it means 'wonderful' and 'prosperous'."

"Wonderful, huh?" Ling wonders if a name truly does describe a person's character. He starts to feel a slight warm feeling in his chest, barely there, barely noticeable, but he notices it anyways. He writes it off as just being a hormonal teenager who's in the presence of a pretty girl, nothing more.

But even he admits that this girl has him greatly interested to know who she is, to know _everything_ about her, even if she's not any help in achieving his goal. His avarice makes him crave knowledge. Knowledge was power, after all. And increased power could help the prince become the emperor.

Mirana Leyton was an enigmatic girl.

* * *

 **I've updated in record time, yay~ This is probably the busiest and most stressful month I'll ever have in regards to school in general, but hey at least I did something good haha.**

 **Constructive criticism is always appreciated!**

 **~Navi**


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